Northboro woman charged in break, booze theft

NORTHBORO — A Howe Lane woman who has several pending court cases was committed to an addiction center after she allegedly broke into a neighbor's home and stole several bottles of alcohol.

According to court documents, Tara A. McLeod, 20, of 5 Howe Lane, Apt. 2, broke into the home at 13 Howe Lane Tuesday and stole two bottles of vodka, five vodka nips, a bottle of wine and four cans of beer. She also ransacked the home, dumping a pot of beef stew onto the hardwood floor in the kitchen.

She was arrested and charged with breaking and entering in the daytime for a felony, larceny under $250 and defacing property.

At Ms. McLeod's arraignment Wednesday in Westboro District Court, Judge Vito Virzi ordered the 2012 Algonquin Regional High School graduate to be committed to a women's addiction center for one month. When she is released, she will be under house arrest on an electronic monitoring system. She was ordered to refrain from the use of drugs and alcohol and to submit to screening.

Ms. McLeod's case was continued to Oct. 30, when a probation revocation hearing will also be held.

She was on probation for three counts of larceny under $250. On Nov. 23, while employed at the Kohl's store at the Shops Way mall, she allegedly stole wallets, cash, credit cards and other items from three employees' lockers.

Ms. McLeod also has two other open cases at Westboro District Court. On Aug. 30, Northboro police were called to the area of 37 Corey Way on a report of motor vehicles being broken into. They allegedly found Ms. McLeod inside a red Toyota Corolla that she had broken into. Police charged her with breaking into five vehicles and stealing several items.

She was also charged in connection with damage caused to two of the vehicles. The license plate of the red Toyota had been ripped off, as had the cover of the vehicle's center console. Oil was dumped onto the carpet of another vehicle.

According to the police report, after she was arrested, she was taken to a hospital for a psychological evaluation.

On Aug. 3, she was charged with filing a false crime report and attempting to bribe a juror. According to the police report, Ms. McLeod called the Northboro Police Department and reported that she had been stabbed. Police said that during the investigation and by Ms. McLeod's own confession, they learned she had filed a false police report. The court documents do not give any details about the charge of attempting to bribe a juror.

In September 2012, she was placed on probation for one year after allegedly driving drunk.

In December 2010, Ms. McLeod and three other Algonquin Regional High School students were charged with attacking another student in woods in Shrewsbury and leaving her with a broken nose and tooth.